A Way Out
by T.J.Lexx
Summary: Caroline flips her humanity switch and ends up in New Orleans with Klaus. Only he would let her feed and kill as much as she wanted. Klaus wants to help her back to herself but will it be she who helps him find his real self? All this in the midst of Hayey's pregnancy and the war for New Orleans.
1. Chapter 1

When Katherine Pierce killed her, she cried.  
When she thought Tyler was dying, she shed tears then too.  
Now her mother was dead. And the tears would not come.  
The latest victim of Silas' killing spree, her mother had a stately, tasteful funeral. Caroline would have nothing less. She planned the funeral as a good daughter would. She smiled and accepted condolences. She arranged the flowers and wrote a beautiful eulogy. Stefan, Elena, Bonnie and Matt helped her and tried to comfort her as best they could but they could tell something was off. They knew inside that the "I'm ok"s were false.  
After the funeral, Caroline smiled and walked out of the graveyard, thanking everyone for coming as she went. She got in her car and drove to the house she could barely bear to step into now, knowing that her mother was never coming home. She climbed the stairs, went into her bedroom and started throwing clothes into a suitcase. When she felt she had packed enough, she zipped the case up and lugged it downstairs. As she flung it into her trunk, her phone started to go off. She turned it off without checking it. She didn't care who it was. She jumped into her car and sped away, leaving Mystic Falls behind with a sigh of relief.

Klaus zipped through the night faster than the blink of an eye. There had been many attacks before but the utter inferiority of this last one infuriated him. One impetuous Night-Walker had actually tried to take him out on his own. The fool. To think that klaus Mikaelson could be so easily killed.  
Unfortunately, he was fast. Klaus had been chasing him for almost an hour through the French Quarter of New Orleans. He was getting bored of the chase but he had a reputation to uphold. Klaus did not let such infractions go unpunished. He was now running down a long street on the east side of the quarter, the young Night-Walker still in his sights. He dug in a little more and closed the gap slightly.  
Just then, a blur ran across the street in front of the young vampire, who made a jerking motion and fell to the ground, blood pooling underneath him.  
Klaus stopped just above his body and looked around. What/who was that? If he hadn't been a vampire, he would never have seen it, it had happened so fast. Just then, the night air buzzed behind him in that way it did when a vampire ran through it. He snapped around to see Caroline holding the Night-Walker's heart out to him, her face as peaceful as a statue but covered in blood.


	2. Chapter 2

Klaus softly stroked Caroline's blonde locks as she slept next to him. He marveled at the way the sun illuminated her bare shoulders. The angelic look on her sleeping face was at complete odds with the demon he had witnessed last night. He went over the night's events in his mind.

_Caroline stood before him holding the vampire's heart in her hands. Klaus looked at it, then at her, then back to the heart. After a thousand years, Klaus didn't shock easily but this turn of events was definitely not expected. In as flat a tone as he could manage, Klaus said,  
"What are you doing here?"  
In as equally flat a tone, Caroline replied, "I was in town, wanted to say hand just happened to see you chasing a guy. I could see you weren't too pleased with him so I killed him. You're welcome."  
Klaus looked her over. She was wearing a black dress and pearls, like she had been at a funeral but was barefoot but for her stockings. Her face was smeared all over with blood and her vampire face was on. The black bulging veins surrounding her darkened eyes starkly contrasted with the paleness of her skin under the blood. The disturbing thing was that her facial expression was completely blank. Klaus knew that something was terribly wrong with her. That was why he brought her back to his house. He led her upstairs to a bedroom and left her alone to clean herself up. He retired to his own room next door. Everything in Klaus wanted to ask her what was wrong but he had his own suspicions about that and if he was right, a late night conversation would not make it all better._

Caroline looked around the room Klaus had left her in. It was nice, if a bit impersonal. There was a queen-sized bed, a boudoir, a closet and a plasma tv _on the wall facing the bed. French doors opened onto an expansive opera-style balcony. Caroline would check that out tomorrow. She made her way to the closet and swung the carved mahogany door open.  
How could she have ever thought the room was impersonal? The closet was chock full of clothes, all in her size and all things she would actually wear. Everything from casual wear to ball gowns was there. After glancing at everything, she pulled out an oversized tee shirt and threw it on the bed. She then pulled off her own crumpled clothes and went into the adjoining bathroom.  
Within minutes, she was luxuriating under the warm jets of the shower. She has been so blindly ecstatic the last few days, gorging herself on blood that she had forgotten how horrific she must look. As the red water ran down her legs and pooled at her feet, she went over her plan in her head.  
After seeing how the Salvatores had been on Elena's back when she had flipped her switch, she knew she could not be a de-humanified vamp in Mystic Falls. She went on a bit of a road trip then came to New Orleans hoping Klaus still felt enough for her to let her stay at his place. She wasn't really about that_ nomad _life. If that didn't work, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She had already started by killing that vamp that had pissed him off.  
Her mom dying had been the last straw. Just before she had turned her humanity off, Caroline remembered that empty, aching hole that lived in her chest. She remembered all the times the fact that her mom was dead hit her afresh and with that, a wave of loss and despair so severe it felt like it was drowning her. Caroline didn't want to deal with that. She couldn't deal with that.  
As the last of the blood washed off and she turned off the shower, Caroline reached for a towel and patted herself dry. As she stepped out of the shower, she thought, 'And commence Phase 2..."_

Klaus was about to fall asleep when he felt something brush his ear as slight pressure was applied to his cock. Startled, he jumped out of bed and pinned his attacker to the wall with vampiric speed.  
Seeing that his "attacker" was nothing but a naked Caroline, Klaus let her go. He unabashedly looked at her body. Her body was slightly damp still and it made her already tempting body look so lush. The way the curve of her breast drew attention to her slender waist and firm hips...Klaus snapped himself out of it and looked Caroline in the face. Her bloody, vampire face was gone but that unnerving blank expression was still in place.  
As he confusedly mumbled, "Caroline, what..." Caroline was doing some body appreciation of her own.  
Klaus was wearing loose, grey sweatpants and no shirt so his smooth muscles were fully in display. Caroline slowly raised her hand and rested them on his _firm chest muscles. Squeezing slightly, she brought them down to his stomach and then dipped one hand into the waistband of his pants  
Still confused, Klaus took a step back and held his arms out to stop her. Ignoring him, Caroline pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him. Not waiting to give him another chance to talk, she pressed her lips to his and ground her hips hard against his pelvis. As her tongue broke through his lips and their tongues engaged in that sweet battle for dominance, Klaus began to caress her breasts. He pulled away from her lips and turned his own to her pert, pink nipple. Every tug of his soft lips, every lave of his tongue sent a wave of warmness to her center. Caroline threw her head back and moaned with pleasure. She hadn't felt this good in a long time but she couldn't allow him to drag this out.  
Pulling his pants down slightly and freeing his erect penis, Caroline rose up and positioned herself above it. Klaus' groan of pleasure as she impaled herself on his turgid length only aroused her more. Caroline had to go slowly at first; Klaus stretched and filled her like no other before. But once she had taken all of him and acclimatized, she rose back up and slid down again more quickly, trying to get a rhythmn. Klaus held her hips and guided her. He watched her ride him and thought he had never seen a sight more glorious. The way she enjoyed him with such reckless abandon, throwing her head back and moaning his name, the way her body rippled with every movement on his cock_, was bringing Klaus closer and closer to the edge. As loathe as he was not to see her climax, he closed his eyes as he found his own relief, letting the waves of ecstasy her body was giving him rock through his body and send him to a place of absolute bliss.

Now that he was no longer distracted by the whirlwind of pleasure that was Caroline Forbes' body, Klaus could now turn his mind to more serious matters, like why Caroline was acting so unlike herself, and how or if she would fit into his life here, what with Hayley and Marcel...he shook himself. It was too early to be thinking this way. Why couldn't he just enjoy the moment and not think about the future?  
He was then torn from his reverie by the shrill chirp of a call phone.


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline was awoken by the shrill chirp of a cell phone. Knowing it could only be someone from Mystic Falls, she hid her annoyance by moaning as if irritated to have been woken up and snuggling closer to Klaus' chest. She knew he would find it cute. She felt the low chuckle in his chest as he gently caressed her back.

"Don't you want to get that, love?"

"Nooooooo," she moaned sleepily, "I want to stay in bed with you."

Klaus pressed a kiss to her hairline. Caroline sighed happily; she was playing him like a harp. Just then Klaus roused her and got out of bed, saying he had something to show her. She watched him reach into the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed. He looked up at her, smiling.

"Close your eyes," he said.

She gave him a "Really?" look but closed her eyes anyway. Klaus eased back into bed and wrapped an arm around her. Caroline felt a slight breeze against her side and a pain in her neck. The small, prick of pain became a searing one as it travelled down into her chest and up into her brain. Her eyes flew open. She didn't even struggle as she rasped "Vervain…" before she passed out.

Hours later, Klaus watched Caroline stir in her restraints. He had bound her in chains in the basement of his house. He hadn't wanted to do this but he couldn't take any chances with the strange way she had been acting. Killing just for the hell of it, coming so eagerly to his bed…this wasn't Caroline and he knew it. After he vervained her, he had checked her phone and saw numerous texts, emails, voicemails and calls from Elena and Matt. Two red flags there. Why were they blowing up her phone so hard and why would she avoid them so long? Again, unlike Caroline. The pieces were coming together to make a picture Klaus didn't find too pretty. She might be playing the distraction again so that her cohorts could carry out yet another plot to kill him. Or even worse, it might be Silas in his head again. Klaus knew the chanced of Caroline telling him the truth right off were slim so he brought her to his torture chamber to scare her. He hoped it wouldn't come down to actual torture. Caroline stirred again, this time more fervently. She would soon come to.

Caroline fought through the burning haze in her head with difficulty. She groaned at the pain in her muscles and cracked open an eyelid. Nothing. Just darkness. But when she dared open her eyes a bit more, she realised she was in a room of some sort, a basement by the looks of it. There was barely any light. She didn't need to move to feel the dead weight around her wrists and ankles. She was still in too much pain to move anyway.

"Nice of you to join the living again, love," Klaus said sarcastically from the shadows, "well maybe not the _living…"_

Caroline groaned and replied, "WHY are you doing this?"

The groan was more for dramatic effect than actual pain. If he had any sympathy left for her, she had to work that.

"Do not mistake my affection for stupidity, Caroline," Klaus stated darkly, "What are you up to?"

Caroline looked at Klaus confusedly. "What am I-what are you _talking _about?"

"Don't play dumb. Last time I checked, you were incomprehensibly  
devoted to the Lockwood boy. Now you show up here and jump into bed with me. Not to mention, despite being one of the most controlled vampires I know, you only drank from blood bags because you didn't want to hurt humans. Now, you not only did you kill a vampire because you apparently _thought _I might appreciate it, you were a literal bloody mess last night so I know you've been feeding on humans. This is too unlike you…almost scarily so."

Caroline studied Klaus after his little diatribe. His tone was angrily accusatory but also frustrated. The uncertainty of not knowing frightened him. Might be time to alter the game plan, thought Caroline. She sighed and dropped he hurt act, a ablank expression taking over her face.

"Klaus, look, I get it, I do. You have to protect yourself and your interests but I am not a threat…and I can prove it."

She saw a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes. "How?"

"I have information you might find useful. I'll impart it just to show good faith."

"You expect me to believe you came all the way to New Orleans to tell me something? Wouldn't a call have sufficed, sweetheart?"

"Maybe I wanted an excuse to come down here. Maybe I even want to help you. In any way I can…"

Caroline left the sentence hanging. Klaus chortled.

"Information _and_ help? Now I know you want something."

"Well now that you mention it, I have grown attached to the bedroom you let me use…"

Klaus raised an eyebrow. She had to be pulling his leg. All this mystery, these out-of-character actions, now she wanted to stay in his house? Attempts to make sense of this were making his head hurt. However…if she was moving against him, the house was the best place to keep an eye on her. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. While a small part of him liked the idea of her sharing his home, this wasn't the Caroline with whom he had longed to live. He sighed.

"Fine. What is this information you have for me?"


	4. Chapter 4

_"I don't understand. She's a monster. You know what she's done to you, to me, to ALL of us. Why do you want to protect her?"_

_"What do you want me to do, Caroline? Kill her? Now? When she's so defenceless?_

_"No, of course not. I know you would never do that."_

_"Or maybe…" Stefan said, looking Caroline over._

_"Maybe what?"_

_After a pause, Stefan said, "You think I should hand her over to Klaus."_

_"I make no apologies for that. She would deserve anything he did to her but…it's up to you."_

_Stefan hung his head. "You know I'm not going to do that."_

_Caroline sighed and walked over to her friend. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. When he looked up, she smiled softly and hugged him. He returned it. She knew Stefan would never betray her like that. If he would, he wouldn't be the Stefan she knew and loved._

_Still embracing him, she said, "And you know…that I'm not going to change my mind."_

Without reservation, Caroline said, "Elena gave Katherine the cure. Now that there's a human doppelganger again, you can make hybrids."

Klaus heard him approach and vamp-ran to the door and opened it before he could knock. Klaus had sent him on a very important procuring mission. Looking intently at the man on his doorstep, he asked,

"Did you get it?"

The man nodded. Klaus breathed a sigh of relief. The man held up a bag.

"The biggest carton of Rocky Road and the largest jar of pickles I could find, sir."

Klaus took the bag from the man and walked back inside. He was about to take it upstairs when he heard someone tutting at him from the top of the stairwell. Knowing who it was, Klaus groaned.

"What is the problem now, Elijah? Klaus snarled as he stared daggers at his older brother.

"We have been on this earth for a thousand years, Niklaus. I know somewhere along the line you picked up enough etiquette and decorum to at least put icecream in a bowl with a spoon for a guest."

Klaus guffawed, "A guest? I don't want her here-"

"She is your responsibility, Niklaus."

With a last look, Klaus zipped into the kitchen and fixed a bowl of Rocky Road and a plate of pickles, placed them on a tray, then walked slowly and deliberately back to the stairwell. He then vamp-ran up the stairs until he was right in front of Elijah. The tray poked the Original in the chest as Klaus spoke.

With a smile, he said, "Why don't you take it to her? You're going to end up feeding it to her anyway. Give dear Hayley my best."

Elijah calmly took the tray from his brother and zipped down the hallway and into a room. Klaus rubbed his temples as he walked back down the stairs. Elijah had shown up on his doorstep a few days ago with Hayley, saying that the current accommodations were no longer secure and that the girl had to stay at the house. She had been driving Klaus mad with her incessant cravings ever since. Even as a vampire, Klaus knew that ice cream and pickles had to taste revolting. Between her and Caroline, it had been a stressful few days.

He kept Caroline from seeing Hayley but it wasn't hard since Caroline was often out. He had been told she talked to a couple people in town, including Marcel and some of his boys but he still didn't know what she was up to. He didn't like it. She could possibly be aligning herself with his enemies but ti was to early to say for sure. Her tip about Katherine had been right though. A compelled associate of his was retrieving some blood from Mystic Falls even then.

Klaus held onto that thought. With the doppelganger blood, he could make hybrids, an army, _his _army. And he could finally take back New Orleans.

The leaves rustled as the wind blew through Bourbon Street. As she walked home, Caroline mulled over the conversation she just had with a member of Marcel's inner circle. They had met a few times before, at some parties. They had danced and talked. Tonight, they had met at Sophie Deveraux's bar and Caroline had a feeling she had found the one.

_"Rough night?" she ventured, as she sat next to Thierry._

_Nursing his drink, he replied, "Marcel's work is never done. Always another rule-breaker to be shown the error of his or her ways."_

_"Oooh, how dark and sinister."_

_"Not at all, Marcel's word is law. I'm just making sure justice is carried out," Thierry said, as he emptied his glass and called for another._

_Caroline saw how drunk he was and decided to go for it. "How does he always know when his rules are broken though? C'mon, let me in on it."_

_Thierry started to shake his head vigorously. When he stopped, he placed his forefinger on his lips and drunkenly rasped, "Sssshhhhhh, it's a secret."_

_Caroline broke down in fake laughter, her eyes twinkling as she held her stomach. _

_"I know it's a secret, T, I know. I 'm just so interested in what you do, your work…"_

_"Why?" slurred Thierry._

_Caroline placed a hand gently on his cheek and caressed it. "Because I want to know everything about you, Thierry. I know we've only known each other a little while but I feel a connection to you."_

_Thierry grinned and looked away shyly. "Really?"_

_In lieu of answer, Caroline held his arm and pulled him away from the bar._

_"Whe-where are we going?" he slurred._

_She looked back at him and smiled seductively. "To get a real drink," she purred._

As Caroline licked the last of a roadside guitarist off her lips, she relished more the thought that she was one step closer to Marcel. After their "drink", Thierry had invited her to spend the day and night with him tomorrow, since she was so interested in him. What she was really interested in was Marcel's affairs, some of which Thierry obviously dealt.

Caroline reached the mansion and went inside. She walked past the living room to the stairs, then stopped. She walked backwards to the living room and looked in. Having done so, she continued on her way, up the stairs and into her room. She got in bed and pulled on the covers. She was tired and even seeing Hayley _and _her swollen belly curled up on Klaus' sofa watching late night tv was not going to keep her up.


	5. Chapter 5

Hayley awoke ravenously hungry that morning, like every other morning for the past 4 months. Having a little person inside you increased your appetite like by 5, she was learning. Usually, she would message Klaus or Elijah to get her food, as Klaus had expressly forbidden her to leave her room or even look out the door unless she was with him or Elijah or one of them okayed it first. But now she realised that was a ridiculous expectation. Her hormones were probably making her more irritable but she didn't care. She pulled on a robe and made her way to the kitchen.

She was frying a delicious-smelling omelette when she heard a slight 'whoosh' behind her. She turned around and saw that girl from Mystic Falls, Tyler's girlfriend, leaning against a counter staring at her intently. She was so shocked to see her, Hayley couldn't even speak.

Caroline, however, had no such affliction. "What are _you_ doing here?"

**IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BEKAH. HOW ARE YOU AND YOUR CURRENT HUMAN DISTRACTION?**

Days later…

**I'M ONLY ANSWERING YOU, NIK, TO TELL YOU NEVER TO CONTACT ME AGAIN.**

**REALLY? STILL ANGRY OVER THE CURE, DEAR SISTER?**

**THE CURE, THE MULTIPLE TIMES YOU DAGGERED ME, THE TIME YOU SAVED CAROLINE AND LEFT ME…NEED I GO ON?**

**WE'RE FAMILY. YOU'RE GOING TO FORGIVE ME AT SOME POINT.**

**I WOULD TELL YOU NOT TO HOLD YOUR BREATH IF YOU WEREN'T ALREADY DEAD. I'M SURPRISED YOU'RE REACHING OUT TO ME THOUGH…YOU WANT SOMETHING.**

**MAYBE I JUST WANTED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH MY LITTLE SISTER.**

**…WHO HATES YOU.**

**AT LEAST I KNOW YOU HATE ME, AND WHY. THAT, I CAN HANDLE. DEALING WITH SOMEONE WHOSE MOTIVES AND AGENDA ARE A MYSTERY IS SLIGHTLY MORE DIFFICULT.**

***SIGH. WHO IS THIS NOW?**

**CAROLINE. SHE'S CURRENTLY STAYING WITH ME. SHE'S SO DIFFERENT, NOT AT ALL HERSELF AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.**

**OMG SHE'S WITH YOU? MATT TOLD ME SHE LEFT MYSTIC FALLS AFTER HER MOTHER'S FUNERAL WITHOUT A WORD TO ANYONE. THEY'VE BEEN TRYING LIKE MAD TO GET AHOLD OF HER EVER SINCE.**

**LIZ FORBES DIED? ARE YOU SURE?**

**YEAH. SILAS KILLED HER. MATT WANTED TO GO BACK FOR THE FUNERAL BUT WE THERE WAS A STORM IN MIAMI AND WE COULDN'T GET A FLIGHT OUT.**

**I THINK I JUST FIGURED OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER. THANK YOU, BEKAH. AS USUAL. YOU GIVE ME CLARITY.**

**YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY NOT WELCOME. CONSIDER THIS OUR LAST COMMUNICATION. GOODBYE, NIKLAUS.**

Caroline ground her hips against Thierry's, taking his bottom lip between two of hers, sucking and nibbling teasingly. One of his hands squeezed her ass while the other fisted in her hair, pulling her closer to him. She groaned in false pleasure, accidentally biting down a little too hard on Thierry's lip and drawing blood. She pulled back and pulled off her shirt, exposing creamy breasts that Thierry immediately buried his head in. The drop of blood she elicited from him brought back the day's activities in flashes.

_The witch who dared use magic to cure a stab victim who otherwise would have died…_

She arched her back as Thierry laved her nipple with his tongue, remembering the fiery ecstasy this action usually sent throughout her body. Her other nipple was teased into pert hardness by Thierry's thumb and forefinger.

_The man who had been making and selling stakes…_

She felt him unbuttoning his pants and dropped to her knees before he could do anything else. With vamp speed, she reached into his boxers, pulled out his cock and sucked on his head. She licked around the head like a lollipop, then took more of him into her mouth. She could hear his groans of pleasure above her as she bobbed and hummed on his hardness.

_The werewolf who had accidentally gotten stranded in town on the night of a full moon…_

When he came into her tight mouth, the warmth of his seed reminded her of the warm blood they had drained from all his victims today. He killed, they fed. To think these people died because they "broke Marcel's rules." Thierry told her he didn't always work alone so if she wanted to hang out one day with the rest of his buds, she was welcome. The activities that followed were to express her…'excitement' at 'becoming a bigger part of his life.' As he zipped back up his pants, he chuckled.

"Beautiful, vivacious _and _willing to go down. I can honestly say you are the most amazing girl I've ever met."

Caroline giggled and smiled at the sated vampire. "Awww, you're so sweet."

She got to her feet and leaned against his chest, resting a hand on his side. "What if I were to get more amazing?"

Thierry raised an eyebrow but decided to humour her. "And how would you ever get more amazing, babe?"

She licked her lips and made a show of seeming a little nervous as she spoke, "I live with Klaus Mikaelson and I know Marcel wants him out of New Orleans. I can give you information on him no one else can get."

Thierry, all seriousness now, grabbed Caroline's arms and looked right into her eyes. "Are you serious?"

She nodded vigorously. "I can help you and Marcel get rid of him…for good."

When Caroline got back to the mansion, she went directly into the living room to fix herself a drink, anything to get the taste of Thierry out of her mouth. As she walked in, she saw Klaus leaning against the mantelpiece with a tumbler of his own in his hand. He turned toward her as she poured herself a glass of bourbon.

"Just so you know, I preferred you _with _humanity."

Caroline didn't even look up as she finished pouring her bourbon. She took up her glass and slowly walked, sipping it, to the sofa, where she sat and looked squarely at Klaus. She drained her glass with a gulp and sighed, looking at the glass like she was sorry it no longer contained liquor.

"And I preferred _you _without part-vampire were-spawn but we can't always have what we want."

Klaus' face dropped slightly before he recovered and hid his shock but Caroline had already seen the slip.

She smiled and said, "Klaus dear, you look confused. Let me catch you up on today's festivities. This morning, Hayley told me about you two's little "love-child" and the whole thing with the witches using you to get rid of Marcel, then I went out with Thierry and we ended our evening making the most lovely plans to kill you."

Caroline rose from the sofa, straightened her top and deposited her glass on the table. She looked at Klaus' shocked/confused/horrified face as she walked out of the room.

"Nice talk" were her parting words.


	6. Chapter 6

"No, no," Hayley muttered as Elijah rubbed her swollen, sore feet, "She didn't even touch me. She compelled me to tell her why I was here and then left."  
It usually took more than this to unnerve her but it seemed like pregnancy fried more than your energy levels. Elijah was sitting at the foot of her bed as she lay down. After Klaus told him that Caroline had gotten the news about their baby out of her, he came to see that she was alright. He also knew from Klaus that Ms. Forbes was not…in the best place at the moment.

"Did she seem normal to you?" Elijah asked carefully.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, she seemed her normal sweetheart self while she was _compelling _me," she drawled sarcastically.

She and shook her head but then stopped. "Wait…"

Elijah looked up at her while continuing to knead her feet.

"The last time I saw her, I snapped her neck but she didn't seem angry. Well, it was obvious she would have killed me without a thought but I could tell she really didn't care about me. She just wanted to know what was going on. A normal girl would have at least yelled at me. Her eyes looked so…vacant. Dead. Even for a vampire. That's not the Blondie I remember. I would know her irritating perkiness anywhere and it was non-existent then."

Elijah dropped his gaze to Hayley's feet when she finished speaking.

In measured tones, he said, "Niklaus informed me that Ms. Forbes has turned her emotions off. A response to her mother's death apparently. He doesn't even fully trust her but is allowing to live here."

Elijah stopped rubbing Hayley's feet and scooted up on the bed so he could rest a hand on her arm. He looked into her eyes.

"I tell you this only so you know to be careful. A vampire who has turned off their humanity is a danger because they have no weakness. They care for nothing."

A drop of blood ran down Caroline's chin and was caught by Thierry's tongue. She giggled and dropped the waitress they had just drained. She had been holding the girl by the neck as they pulled the last dregs out of her. Her body slithered to the ground and rested next to the body of a teenage boy with similar facial features to hers.

Marcel had ordered Thierry to 'take care' of a witch named Jack LaFlamme in the French Quarter and given him an address. Thierry had ripped out the throat of the boy who answered the door. Caroline had come upstairs to see Thierry cringing on the ground and screaming, blood running from his nose and eyes as a tearful witch stood mumbling above him. She snapped the girl's neck before she even knew Caroline was there.

Turns out _Jaq _(as in Jaqueline) LaFlamme lived with her little brother who actually hadn't done anything wrong. Caroline didn't care that the boy was dead; more blood for her, but Thierry was sloppy. Way more collateral damage than was necessary.

Thierry kissed and licked his way down to the swell of Caroline's breasts and was in the process of liberating them from her shirt when he mumbled, "So what's this weakness of Klaus' you were talking about?"

Caroline refrained from sighing and shaking her head. He really thought she would be so distracted by the blood and the sex that she wouldn't notice him fishing?

She put on her ditzy persona and giggled, squirming away from him and saying, "Wouldn't it be better to tell you, Marcel and the rest of your guys at the same time?"

Thierry palmed one of her breasts and flicked her nipple with his tongue before replying, "No, it would be better if you told me so _I _could bring your idea to the guys. They'll take it more seriously coming from me."

She grabbed his face and kissed him with as much passion as she could muster, playfully nipping at his lip before pulling away.

"Well, for now, all you need to know, baby, is that it involves a very special dagger."

_Klaus had had enough. Enough of the coyness. Enough of the mystery. Enough of this emotionless person that used to be Caroline._

_He grabbed her arm and zipped them over to the fireplace, simultaneously changing their position so that he was holding both of her wrists behind her back and one hand was grasping the back of her neck. Once there, he forced her to her knees facing the fire, he pushed her face into the fireplace until it was a hair's breadth from the leaping flames. She struggled against him but she could barely move; it was like resisting stone._

_"Let's try this again," breathed the Original Hybrid, "About these plans to kill me, love…"_

_Caroline was loathe to even open her mouth so close to the flames that could end her not-life but she knew Klaus would kill her if she didn't._

_"Do you really think I would tell you I was gonna kill you IF I ACTUALLY WANTED TO KILL YOU?! I need an in for Marcel's inner circle and this is the best way. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"_

_Klaus was silent but didn't relax his grip on her neck. "How do I know you're not lying?" he snarled._

_"I've been hanging out with Thierry to see if I could get closer to Marcel but it's been slow going. I told him I live with you and that I could be his little inside agent. I'm gonna 'help him get rid of you' to earn his and Marcel's trust._

_"And exactly how far will my demise progress before you show your 'true' allegiance?"_

_"…Haven't thought that far yet."_

_Klaus stifled a laugh. He should not be laughing about his own death but her lack of forethought was hilarious, especially knowing with whom she was dealing. He released her. If she really wanted to kill him, she would have had a much better answer to his question._

_Caroline got up off the floor, rubbing her bruised-but-healing neck. "I know how you're gonna die though."_

_Klaus dropped into a chair. "Do tell."_

_Caroline unbuttoned her jacket and took it off, laying it meticulously over one arm. "I think having them dagger you is the best option."_

_"Come on, Caroline, you know a vampire cannot wield the dagger and live."_

_Without warning, she flashed that megawatt, sunny smile he had fallen in love with. Klaus could almost forget she was an emotionless bitch when she smiled like that. But then he looked at her cold, dark eyes. And he knew that wasn't his Caroline's smile._

_"Oh dear, I forgot to mention that to him." she said, chuckling. _

As Thierry gyrated on top of her, Caroline heard a wail from outside. A baby crying. The cry had pulled her away from her memories of yesterday.

A baby. Hayley. Hayley was pregnant. For Klaus. Klaus. She pushed the thoughts away and flipped herself over so that she was riding Thierry. She focused on the swing of her hips and the rhythm of his strokes. Mirroring his guttural groans of pleasure and look of ecstasy took all of her concentration. She made sure it did. She didn't want to think about anything else.

Because for that second, when she heard the child's cry, she didn't want the child to cry. No child should have to cry like that. For that second, Caroline Forbes felt sad.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite what people thought, Klaus Mikaelson had no trouble sleeping at night. Dreamless sleep, however, was harder to come by. These dreams were usually related to whatever problems he had at the moment. Throughout his time as a vampire, Klaus had dreams about his family being together and at peace, of having a perfect army of hybrids and of Caroline being at his side. He also had nightmares about Mikael staking them and seeing his siblings' bodies burn, nightmares recalling that night when he had been forced to kill 12 of his own hybrids and nightmares of Caroline walking away from him again and again.

Since coming to New Orleans, his dreams had changed significantly. Now they were but colours drifting in and out of his consciousness, crashing against and into each other. Klaus couldn't understand it. And what Klaus couldn't understand, he couldn't control and therefore wanted to nothing to do with. That was how Caroline crossed his mind.

He had just awoken from another of his strange colour-dreams and was loathe to drift off again in case he had another. With his vampire-hearing he heard as Caroline shifted in bed. The even nature of her breathing told him she was most likely asleep. Klaus closed his eyes and stretched his mental muscles as he cast his consciousness into the room beside his own.

_By now, Klaus should have expected this but it still caught him off guard. Caroline's sleeping consciousness was the equivalent of an English moor in fall: a grey, dreary expanse. When Klaus thought of Caroline, he thought of light and energy and __**life**__. But that Caroline was gone, and this one had no use for light and energy. She appreciated the life of humans only because it nourished her own._

_Klaus flexed his mental abilities again and found himself in the drawing room of his mansion back in Mystic Falls. He walked over to a canvas lying face down on the floor and picked it up. He was evaluating his sketch of birds in flight when a voice behind him spoke._

_"Why are you in my head, Klaus?"_

_He spun around to see Caroline leaning against the doorpost, peering at him._

_He smirked before he replied, "Insomnia, love. Besides, it's not as if you have something to hide from me…"_

_Caroline walked into the room, pulled a wooden stool from behind a covered easel and sat down._

_"Since you're here," she said, "We might as well discuss a few things."_

_"And here I thought we had discussed everything of relevance in our nice 'fireside' chat."_

_"And that right there," she said, wagging a finger at him, "Is why everyone thinks you're an asshole. But moving on…what have you done about Katherine?"_

_Klaus put down the canvas in his hands and picked up another to study. "I know you haven't noticed but I do have other things to worry about, like wresting an entire city from my progeny and a child on the way that wasn't supposed to exist."_

_Caroline rose from her seat and made her way toward him unhurriedly. "Well, the kid is your problem but I think having an army of vampire-werewolf hybrids loyal to you alone might, just might, help get you the crown for New Orleans."_

_Klaus looked up from the painting in his hands. "Go on."_

_"Marcel has the witches in one hand, the humans in the other and the vampire population is completely behind him. If this comes down to a pissing contest, you need an edge. You need what Klaus Mikaelson does best: brute force and unrelenting violence."_

_By now, Caroline was right in front of Klaus, her eyes boring into his. She placed on hand on his arm, the other on his cheek and stroked gently. Her tone had softened significantly when she spoke again._

_"Let me go to Mystic Falls and deal with Katherine. I'll come back with blood to make your hybrids. I promise."_

_Klaus grabbed and stilled the hand she lay on his cheek. He would not let this glimpse into his fantasies derail him._

_"How do I know this isn't just an excuse to liaise with the gang back home in your latest plot to take me down?"_

_Caroline took the hand from his arm and rested it on his neck, caressing the spot she knew his strongest vein ran. She leaned in to whisper in his ear. _

_"Trust me."_

_Silence._

_"Or compel me to do exactly as I said I would. I'm not on vervain. The choice is yours."_

_Klaus struggled a little to remain completely detached and unresponsive with Caroline being so close and her ministrations feeling so relaxing. As usual, he felt ill at ease trusting this shell of Caroline devoid of a conscience but something told him to give her an inch here and see if she took a mile._

_"Go," he spat eventually._

_She curtseyed mockingly and said sweetly, "Thank you, Lord Niklaus. Oh, and one more thing, while I'm gone you need to plan a party."_

_Klaus' expression turned to one of confusion. "Why, might I ask?"_

_Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Apart from it being a chance to show your magnificent, benevolent self to the vampire population of New Orleans, it'll be a chance for all the key players to feel each other out. In situations like this, there's always a party or a meeting or something to get everyone in the same place and that's where all the important stuff happens. Like seriously? Have you never seen True Blood?"_

_Ignoring the niggling pain in his temple from attempting to comprehend a pop culture reference, he humoured her, "And what kind of party do you suggest? A dinner party…an elegant ball…or a rave?"_

_Caroline ignored his sarcasm. "This party has to be classy enough to attract the Daywalkers and the witches but have a naughty edge to pull the Nightwalkers and an element of anonymity to protect the witches, generally entice everyone else and to obscure the main attraction of the evening, which will consist those two things that vampires love above all else."_

_Klaus broke into a half-smile despite himself. "Fucking and feeding."_

_Caroline smiled. "I think you know what kind of party fits that bill."_

_Klaus turned away from her and placed the painting back on the floor where he found it._

_"I never said I would do it."_

_Caroline sighed and shrugged. "Do it, don't do it, whatever. It's for you, not me."_

_Klaus groaned. "I should have stayed in my own head. This has been exhausting, as usual."_

_Klaus made to turn back around and found himself met by a pair of lips as he did. Soft, warm lips doing things that made him melt inside. She parted his lips with her tongue and soon it was wrestling for dominance with his own. Her hand went into his light brown curls, pulling him down and closer to her. Her other hand wrapped around his waist, as did her leg, crushing him to her like they couldn't get close enough. He grasped her cheek and hip as he returned her kiss with twice as much force. He kissed his way down to her neck, where he generously tended to her pulse point. She groaned as the slow burn of ecstasy erupted from that place on her neck. Her groan turned to a gasp when his fangs broke the skin and pierced her vein. As he drank from her in long, slow draughts, she finally understood how some humans found it pleasurable to be fed from. Her life force flowing from her into him gave her pleasure beyond words. She would have crumpled to the floor had he not been holding her._

_"Klaus…"she moaned._

_That moan, despite being aphrodisiac music to Klaus' ears, brought him back to himself. This wasn't real. If this were real, Caroline wouldn't enjoy him biting her because his bite was poisonous. This was a dream. This wasn't real the same way that this Caroline wasn't real. _

_Klaus pulled back in his fangs and moved away from her, leaving her panting with blood running down her neck and soaking into her collar. He took on the most solemn expression he could._

_"Good night, Caroline," he said._

_"You don't have to pretend, you know," she sneered._

_"Pretend what?"_

_"That you automatically stopped wanting me just because my emotions are off. We both know it isn't true."_

_After a pregnant pause, Klaus repeated, "Good night, Caroline." He returned to his own consciousness._

The next morning, Klaus realised Caroline had gone, taking some of her things with her. _Took the first flight I could back to Mystic Falls, _a note stuck to her mirror read.

Klaus knew all he could do now was wait. He went downstairs and began making calls. He had a Roman masquerade party to plan.

**Author's note: sorry if it seems like the last two chapters have just been filler. i'm trying to set some stuff up. you guys know how it is lol. anyway, I hope you guys like it and keep reading. you guys are my motivation**


	8. Chapter 8

"Have you talked to him since he got back?" Bonnie asked Matt as he set down her and Elena's drinks.

"Not much," he replied, "He told me a little about where he's been, what he's been doing but that was it."

"He was obviously doing something..." Elena murmured as she sipped her Coke.

As Matt returned to the bar, Bonnie and Elena again levelled their eyes at the hybrid sitting there conversing animatedly with a pretty brunette. Tyler Lockwood had blown back into town a few weeks ago, with the brown-haired girl on his arm.

"As much as I miss her, I'm almost glad Care isn't here to see this," Bonnie said, "Wolf?"

"Oh, definitely," chuckled Elena, "I can smell her from here."

As if on cue, the door to the Mystic Grill then swung open to admit the daily lunch mob. From across the room, Damon Salvatore caught a glimpse of golden hair among the hungry masses that looked familiar. Upon focusing his vampire sight, he tapped his brother, who was lining up a pool shot, on the shoulder. When he straightened up, Damon was smirking.

"Stefan, you gotta see this," he said almost giddily, "Barbie is about to beat Ken's _ass."_

The last thing Klaus expected or wanted to first thing in the morning was his brother all over the werewolf carrying his child.

But there it was.

Okay, maybe all over was an exaggeration but still. It wasn't a pleasant sight. Klaus was about to step into his kitchen for a morning blood bag when he saw Elijah holding Hayley to him and kissing her tenderly. One of Elijah's hands was on her back, drawing her in, while the other rested on her cheek. They immediately broke apart when Klaus entered the room. Hayley scurried off, looking abashed, leaving Elijah to feel the lash of Klaus' tongue.

"Can you never pursue a woman I _haven't, _brother?"

"Niklaus," said Elijah, softly, a warning tone in his voice.

"The youngsters of this time, I believe, would call her my…'sloppy seconds.'

Klaus didn't even have time to laugh at his own joke as Elijah rushed him and slammed him against the wall. This was a ferocity Klaus hadn't seen in his big brother for centuries. Elijah was always ever the cool, calm, collected one. Klaus realised with a sinking feeling that the werewolf had gotten under his skin.

"DO NOT speak of her in that way!" Elijah growled at him.

After that, Elijah seemed to realise his angry outburst and let go of his brother.

Stepping back, he said tiredly, "She is carrying your child, Niklaus. If for no other reason than that, she deserves some respect."

"It looks like you're giving her enough respect for the both of us…" Klaus retorted.

Elijah hung his head and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. After a minute or so, he looked up at Klaus. His face the impassive mask it ever is, he speaks in a calm tone.

"Niklaus, we both know that the reason you have so much anger toward the girl is not so much for anything she has done as it is your reaction to fear."

Klaus guffawed. "I am the Original Hybrid. Nothing scares me."

"You fear what you do not understand and what you cannot control. You could not control this pregnancy, you can barely understand it and chances are, it will only become more complicated in the coming months. You know this."

Klaus' facial expression had turned to one of annoyance before he turned away from Elijah and went to the fridge. Elijah continued.

"You are always so busy being the terrible Original Hybrid that you tend to forget that you are also a _man, _Niklaus. And right now, you need to _be _a man and take care of your responsibilities. The child in Hayley's belly is _yours. _You need to start acting like it."

Klaus slammed the fridge door shut and whirled on Elijah. "So I'm supposed to be loving and supportive and fawn all over her just because she's pregnant. I _never _had feelings for her. I _never _wanted-"

"No, you are supposed to take care of her because she is carrying _your _child. You are _supposed_ to find a way to talk to her because you two are going to become parents," Elijah cut him off.

As his brother left, no doubt to find Hayley, Klaus' phone chirped. He pulled it from his pocket to check it.

Caroline scanned the bar through the throng. She saw Elena and Bonnie sitting at a table together, having a drink. She saw Damon and Stefan playing pool. She saw Matt behind the bar working. Looks like everything was exactly as she had left it.

Then she saw Tyler at the bar with the new girl. Well, that's new, she thought. A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips as she remembered how she would have reacted to the sight before she abandoned her emotions. Her jaw would have probably dropped, followed by the forced cheery smile, to bely the aching hole that would have opened in her heart. She would have made some lame excuse to go home and cry herself a river, accompanied by her best friends, Rocky Road and Gone With The Wind.

Now, she felt nothing but mild curiosity about who the girl was. On her trip down, Caroline had wondered how to play it with her friends. The truth was out of the question. None of them had forgiven Klaus for his past transgressions and they certainly wouldn't be pleased she had turned her humanity off. She briskly made her way over to Bonnie and Elena's table, pasting her old, sunny smile on.

"Bon! Elena!" she cried happily.

"Oh my God, Care? You're back!" Elena said as she and Bonnie got up and wrapped Caroline in a group hug.

Even when they pulled out of the hug, they kept their hands around her waist.

Bonnie spoke first. "We were so worried. You weren't returning any of our messages or calls and we didn't know where you were or what you were doing or how you were…"

Caroline looked at her two friends, then looked at the floor, a sadness crossing her face. She answered solemnly.

"I just had to get away, you know," she said, sniffling a little, "It was so hard after my mom died. I kind of had to leave it to get past it."

The girls were silent for a while, then Elena tucked a flyaway piece of hair behind Caroline's ear tenderly.

"If anyone knows how tempting it is to run away after losing a parent, it's me. We just wish we could have been there for you."

Caroline grasped both girls' hands in her own, squeezing, and said, "You were."

Bonnie, wanting to bring some lightness to the conversation, interjected, "So what have you been up to since you left?"

Caroline realised they had fallen for it and relaxed. "Nothing exciting really. I was really just bouncing from town to town. I wanna know what's been happening _here."_

She looked over at Tyler and nodded her head in his direction. "You could start with _that_."

Bonnie and Elena squirmed uncomfortably. "We haven't spoken to him since he got back," said Elena.

"-but he's been around town with _her_ ever since. We're sorry, Care-" apologised Bonnie.

Caroline cut her off. "No, don't apologise. If anyone owes me an explanation, it's Tyler."

She broke away from them and began to make her way to the bar. She had just taken out her phone when Bonnie pulled her back.

"Do you really think this is the best way to do this?" Elena asked uncomfortably.

"Relax," said Caroline, smoothly, "I'm just going to say hello."

With that, she turned around and resumed her walk to the bar. As she walked, she quickly sent a text message.

**I NEED YOU TO SEND ME SOMETHING ASAP, BABE. DON'T QUESTION IT, JUST TRUST ME… **

**END OF CHAPTER**

To Justine:

Right now, yes, Klaus does regret sleeping with Hayley. I actually tried to portray that in this chapter during his encounter with Elijah. As for your second question, I'm sorry I didn't fully understand what you meant. Feel free to ask again either in the review or personal message me

To everyone else, thank you for reading. Please review J


	9. Chapter 9

The look on Tyler's face when he turned around to see who had touched him was many things: shocked and embarrassed mostly but there was also relief. That one had Caroline confused until she realised that her friends had probably told him about her little escape act after her mom's funeral. Tyler was a lot of things but he had never been completely insensitive to her feelings.

"Hey," she said, with a little smile, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Tyler looked at her, then at his friends, then down at the bar. The brunette didn't look to happy about her intrusion and said nothing, but took Tyler's hand. At that, Tyler looked up at her.

"Give me a minute, Sienna, okay?" he asked as he got up from the bar, dropping her hand.

He nodded toward the door and he made his way outside with Caroline. Once in the open air, Caroline crossed the road and sat down on a bench in the town square, Tyler not far behind. As soon as he sat down, she started to speak.

"Look," she said calmly, "Right now, I should raging at you for getting a new girlfriend. Klaus stopped hunting you and you could have come home, my mom died and you should have come home. I _needed_ you, Tyler…"

Just then, her voice broke and a tear ran down her cheek. Tyler eased closer and tried to take her hand but she raised it in a silent 'no.'

She continued, "But that is the past. It's obvious you have moved on and I need to do the same. My mom's death showed me that life is too short to hold grudges and be anything but happy."

At that, she looked up at him and tried a little smile through her tears. Although pleased that Caroline was taking a calmer approach to his relationship status, something felt off. This wasn't Caroline. His Caroline was a kind, loveable neurotic, control freak who would not have taken this that well. If she had screamed or threw something at him, this would feel more normal. He was in such a puzzled state that he didn't even say anything.

"Umm I guess you don't have anything to say," she said, laughing, "If you ever do, you know where I live."

She patted his hand, then walked away, across the street and around the Mystic Grill. After she left, Tyler remained on the bench for a while, trying to let the breeze clear his head. Realising it was useless, he shook himself and got up to make his way back to the bar and back to his girl. As he went into the Grill's front door, he just missed the girl who had come out of the side exit and was now walking across the street to the town square.

But Caroline didn't. She had gone around the side of the Grill and stayed there until Tyler left. Her eyes followed the girl until she was out of even Caroline's vampire sight. Tyler's silence was a bit worrying. She could tell he wasn't completely taken by her "new" attitude. She would have to deal with that. She sighed in annoyance. This is what happens when you plan as you go along, she mused. Then she went back inside to her friends. God knows she had neglected Stefan long enough.

_Two days later…_

They had decided to have an official 'Welcome back, Caroline' party and Caroline had twisted Stefan's arm to let them have it at the Salvatore boarding house. It was small, just Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Matt and Damon, who Caroline personally did not invite. The numbers, however, did not stop the hype. The music was pounding and the alcohol was flowing. The boys were leaning against the wall, sipping beer and looking cool while the girls were giggling and dancing up a storm. Caroline remembered when being like this with these people would have made her so happy, now it was just a means to an end.

She "tripped" and spilled a drink down her dress. Laughing like a drunk idiot, she told the girls she was going to the bathroom to clean herself up. She walked to the bathroom in an unbalanced, wobbly fashion, then looked back. No one was looking at her. She straightened up and vamp-ran up the stairs.

Caroline walked past Damon's room, to the room next to Stefan's, and gently opened the door. She smiled when the girl on the bed inside looked at her with a mixture of shock, confusion and fear.

"Hello, Katherine," she said, before she jumped on the bed and held the girl by the throat.

She knew Katherine would be living with Damon and Stefan. They were the only two she had a chance in hell of convincing she was worth not abandoning to all the vampires she had pissed off over the centuries. As for the room, (a) Stefan was the one most likely to be sympathetic to…well anything pertaining to her generally and (b) Damon's room was also Elena's room and she doubted the doppelgangers had become bffs.

As a human, Katherine's struggles against her Caroline barely felt. With Caroline's hand semi-crushing her windpipe, she couldn't scream as Caroline pulled a syringe out of her clutch purse and plunged it into her arm. Her eyes widened though, as a grimace crossed her face. This would have been so much easier with compulsion, she thought, but chances were that Katherine was full of vervain.

The syringe filled up with Katherine's blood, Caroline pulled it out of her arm, capped it and returned it to her purse. That accomplished, Caroline whipped her free hand back across Katherine's face with the force of a raging bull. Caroline was confident the loud music had completely blocked the sound of the blow. The girl immediately went unconscious.

"That was for killing me," she murmured, as she rolled Katherine in her bedsheet like a giant sausage. She lifted her off the bed, shoved her underneath it and arranged the remaining bed covers so that she wouldn't be instantly visible under the bed upon entry to the room. Then she left.

Caroline knew Katherine wouldn't stay knocked out forever. She had to leave. Now. She could not be here when Ms. Pierce started to sing like a canary. On her way down the stairs, she saw Tyler greet Matt. She pulled back behind the turn on the stairwell but focused on their voices.

"…didn't know you and Care were cool…"

"…not gonna stay…Sienna outside…"

"….sure that…is wise?"

"….wanted…to say hello…Care…tell her…everything's alright…I'll always…care about her…"

Adjusting her escape plan, Caroline vamp-zipped to the kitchen and grabbed two beers. She had received her package that morning and now emptied its contents into one of the beers. Fixing her drunken smile and inebriated walk, she wobbled outside.

She saw Sienna leaning against Tyler's car and fidgeting impatiently.

She yelled, "Hey!" in an overly friendly manner and walked over as best she could. The girl looked at her suspiciously but didn't move away.

"What're you doing outside?" Caroline slurred, "The party's _IN_side."

Sienna shook her head politely and said, "I'm just waiting for Ty."

Caroline gave an exaggerated sigh and hung her head. "Okay, I know your Tyler's girlfriend and I'm his ex and it's gonna be awkward but we can move past that. And what better way than a party?"

She finished with a hopeful smile. Sienna said nothing and retained her suspicious look.

"_Okaaaaaayyyyy_," drawled Caroline, "No party then. But at least have a beer."

She held the bottle to the girl, who took it hesitantly. She raised her bottle before pressing it to her lips.

"To moving past it," she said before taking a gulp of beer.

Sienna eventually followed suit, drinking mouthfuls before she lowered the bottle.

"Awesome!" Caroline crowed and absentindedly put her beer on top of Tyler's car. Sienna laughed at that.

A laugh that was cut off when Caroline snapped her neck. One hand on top the head, the other under the chin, a strong twist and the wolf was dead. Caroline put the body in her trunk and looked around to make sure no one had followed her. She scribbled a note and left it on Tyler's window before she climbed into her car and screeched away from the loud part.

_Tell her pack to come to New Orleans if they want to claim what's left of the body._


	10. Chapter 10

**I am so sorry I took so long to update. School started back for me. I am a law major and I have terrible time management skills lol. Bit of a filler chapter again but bear with me. Thank you for reading, hope you like it and please review :)**

Tyler walked up to the Salvatore boarding house like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He couldn't get the look of the pack's faces out of his mind. He sighed. To think that just a few days ago, his life had been normal…well, as normal as a hybrid's life could be anyway. He had found a pack that accepted him, a girl that adored him, it had seems like his life was finally coming down from the roller coaster it usually was.

Then Caroline had come back into town.

To say that it had been awkward was the understatement of the year but she was so calm about his having moved on…he should have known it was too good to be true. Caroline could be calm about many things; an ex was not one of them.

He still couldn't believe his Care would…

He mentally shook himself before pushing open the door and walking inside.

Hearing footsteps, Stefan looked up from his bourbon. He saw Tyler's tired visage and knew the news wasn't good.

"I take it you told them," he said.

"You don't _not _tell your pack members when your vampire ex-girlfriend kills another pack member."

"Werewolves are renowned for their emotional stability."

Tyler shot Stefan a look before taking the seat opposite his and replying, "They're out for blood. Just like I said they would be. They saw the note…they're packing up right now. New Orleans is about to face a wolf _invasion."_

_"_Didn't you tell them Caroline was _our_ problem? We have to fix this. Anyone else would only make it worse."

"Make _what _worse, Stefan? We don't even know what's going on. Care's always been neurotic but to _kill_ my girlfriend is a bit much even for her. I think something else is going on here. I think…I think someone else is pulling her strings."

Stefan raised a hand to Tyler, "Whoa, wait a minute. Why are you so quick to blame Caroline for this? Because Katherine said she attacked her? Newsflash, Katherine _lies. _Because the note was in her handwriting? People can mimick writing styles. Because she's nowhere to be found? Maybe she's a victim in all of this too. All I know for sure is that Caroline has only ever been a good friend to me, to you, to all of us. She deserves the benefit of the doubt this once."

Stefan's speech silenced Tyler for a while. The room hung thick with tension as they both mulled the situation over.

Finally, Tyler muttered, "I have to go with my gut. And right now my gut is saying that Caroline did this. It's also saying that stuff is working on her that we don't know about. My guess is that that 'stuff' might be the Original Hybrid."

Stefan cast his eyes downward. "You think Klaus compelled her?"

"I don't know _what _he did but I know he's involved. It's too much of a coincidence that the note directed the pack to New Orleans."

Tyler rose from his seat and wiped a hand down his face. "Look man, I just came to give a heads-up. I'm going with the pack to New Orleans so you won't be seeing me for a while."

"Actually, you might be seeing us sooner than you think."

A confused look flickered across Tyler's face.

"You really thought none of us was gonna want to find out what's going on with Caroline? And New Orleans is the best clue to her whereabouts so far so I'm definitely heading down there to look for her."

Tyler's face went slack and he groaned, "_Great. _One more member of the Mystic Falls gang in NOLA."

Klaus had once said that his love of painting stemmed from it being the medium through which he had learned that he could bring his wishes into actuality by simply having the requisite will. That wasn't the whole truth. It also brought him peace, calmed him down in his many moments of anger. Seeing a blank canvas be transformed into a palate of beauty before his eyes never stopped filling him with wonder and happiness. He was in such a tranquil state when his reverie was broken by loud thumps downstairs

Elijah never made that kind of noise and if Hayley was thumping around in her state, he should probably pretend to care about her and go check. He got up from his easel and walked down the staircase. The clink of ice in a glass turned his attention to the living room. What he saw made him want to zip back upstairs to the sanctuary of his studio.

Caroline was fixing herself a drink. Obviously she was back from her trip. On the ground by the sofa lay a crumpled brunette, who smelled strongly of vervain and wolfsbane. Klaus thought she was dead until he heard the slow, dull thump of a vampiric heartbeat from her body. The thumps he had heard must have been Caroline _dragging _her into the house, he realised as his temples began to thrum.

Just then, Caroline took a sip of her gin and tonic and turned around.

"Klaus! Darling!" she said exuberantly as she bounced over to give him a bear hug and a kiss on both cheeks.

He raised an eyebrow at this newfound sunny attitude. On seeing his reaction, Caroline's face fell back to its blank expression.

"_That _is how I had to act in Mystic Falls. It's so tiresome pretending to care-"

"CAROLINE!" Klaus snapped and cut her off, "Explain the unconscious person on my floor or so help me…"

Caroline pursed her lips and sat down on the sofa right by the girl.

"It's quite simple really. I brought you a gift so when I told you the bad news it would sting a little less."

Klaus sagged down into the chair next to her rubbing his temples, "So where is this _gift_?"

Caroline pointed to the girl. "Her name is Sienna and she's all yours. Hybrid and all so you won't have to compel her. Sire-bonded. I spiked her beer with the blood you sent me and then fed her Katherine's blood in transition. Had to keep her knocked out with vervain and wolfsbane all the way here."

Here Caroline took another sip of her drink. Klaus brightened a bit.

"So you got Katherine's blood?"

Caroline swallowed and replied slowly, "That's the thing. I was only able to take enough to turn Sienna. She's on vervain and the Salvatores are all over her. I could barely get alone with her to take the little blood I could."

She saw Klaus's face drop and continued, "Don't worry though. She's on her way here so you can drain her yourself to your heart's content."

"…And how exactly did you persuade her to come to New Orleans? The Salvatores won't let her come within a thousand miles of me, you know that."

Caroline cocked her head to one side. "That was actually the easiest part. Oh yeah. A pack of werewolves is on its way here too, more than likely wanting to kill me so…there's also that…"

Klaus fisted his hands tightly and took numerous deep breaths. Dealing with emotionless Caroline took the patience of Job. Having actually met Job, Klaus knew the Bible didn't give him enough credit.

"_Please…_please enlighten me as to why…" he groaned.

Motioning to Sienna, Caroline said, "They think I killed her and I told them to come get her body. I only did it to get a pack here for you to turn into hybrids with Katherine's blood."

Klaus lost it. "BUT I DON'T HAVE KATHERINE'S BLOOD!" he raged.

Caroline fixed him with a pitying look. "However did you get such a fearsome reputation? You have no vision, Klaus, I swear…"

Just then Sienna stirred and muttered in her sleep.

"Uh-oh," sing-songed Caroline, "Looks like sire duties are about to begin. That's my cue to leave."

She got up and made for the stairs leaving Klaus staring after her in disbelief.

"Oh, I just realised," she said as she stopped and turned around, "Everyone should be in town just in town for the big _party."_

She flashed Klaus a bright smile.

So caught up were Stefan and Tyler in their conversation that neither of them heard the creaking of the stairs or the human heartbeat of the person eavesdropping on their conversation. As Tyler left, Katherine uncrumpled the note in her hand and read it for the 50th time.

_I know you definitely know that absence really doesn't make the heart grow fonder but just to hammer home that point, I just thought you should know that Elijah's got a new girlfriend. A werewolf, no less. Guess a werewolf was still more palatable than you as a human. Wait…that means that the only thing you had going for you was the vampirism. That must hurt. Especially now you actually have to deal with human emotions all the time. Even I was shocked at how quickly he forgot you though. Just saying._

_Girl to girl,_

_Caroline_


	11. Chapter 11

Caroline can hear someone screaming. The scream is terrible…heart-wrenching, agonising. She wants to rip the person's throat out just to shut them up. This person is screaming like they're watching everything they love, burn. But there's no one up there but them three.

The screaming, burning vampire and Klaus, falling to the floor with a dagger in his back.

That's when Caroline realises who is screaming. It's her. Her humanity is screaming at her from that place in her psyche she had banished it to. It's tearing at her, trying to rip away that blank persona she now shrouds herself in. It's torn away enough for her to feel fear.

Fear that it comes back. Caroline closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and viciously culls the emotions churning inside her. They _will not _control her.

She considers whether to un-dagger Klaus at that moment or not. She knows he'll be raging when he finds out the turns the night took and she really doesn't want to deal with his temper right now.

But she also knows that Klaus is her only true ally, no matter how furious he might be. With a sigh, she moves forward to pull the dagger from the Original Hybrid's back.

_A couple hours earlier…_

The grapevines wrap around the staircase and the white pillars like passionate lovers. The smell of grapes in the air adds a sweetness to the air that merely sets off the decadence of the atmosphere. The black curtains interspersed between the pillars whispered of mystery while the topless females strolling through them with trays of wine-filled goblets screamed 'come get it.'

The room is filled with women dressed in the flowing but sexy dresses of Grecian times, their tresses either hanging like rope down their backs or bound around their heads like crowns. The men go the "less is more" route, wearing only cloth wrapped around their waists and laurel wreaths for head dress. They all wear masks.

It is the night of Klaus' party and it has just kicked into full swing. Even now, he can see a few vampires feeding from the waitresses in the shadowy shade of the curtains. He has no doubt that, by the end of the night, they will be fucking them as well.

The mask does not impair his vampire sight but he is having a hard time finding Caroline. Swearing to himself, he swings around and cranes his neck to try to see her.

"Looking for someone?"

He turns around and there she is. Her mask, like his is half-white, half-black but the eyeholes of hers are accented by silver glitter and rhinestones shine from the edges of the mask. He can' help but notice how her eyes shine, how _she_ seems to shine even in the dim lighting. The dress she is wearing is the exact same shade of blue as her eyes. It flutters around her legs, giving the impression that she is floating. Her golden hair is curled into ringlets that fall tantalisingly around her face and down her back.

At that moment, to Klaus, she has never looked more beautiful. Until she removes her mask.

"I know you're freaking out right now," she says with a calm smile, "but you need to smile. We're at a party. If you look too serious, people will wonder what's going on."

Klaus automatically breaks into a bright smile. "What's going on is that I'm going to die tonight, right love?" he says, with an angry edge to his voice.

Caroline scans the room. "If we're lucky."

_The guests have just started arriving and Caroline spots Thierry. He would be there early. Probably to scope the place out and report back to Marcel before his royal Highness deigns to make an appearance. She grabs him and pulls him into one of the bedrooms. Before she can get a word out, he pins her to a wall, kissing her deeply, murmuring some gibberish in between kisses about how he missed her and how could she just disappear on him like that and how he's gonna have to punish her later, heh-heh._

_Caroline couldn't care less. She extricates himself from her arms and pulls an object wrapped in white satin from the folds of her dress. He looks on intently as she un-wraps the dagger and shows it to him. He reaches out his hand to touch it but she jerks it away._

_"This must be thrust into his heart, do you understand? Tell Marcel to aim there only, otherwise he will be wasting time."_

_Thierry nods, still looking at the dagger. Caroline notices he looks almost hungrily excited about it._

_"Klaus will be back on the platform at 8. Tell Marcel he wishes to meet him there and have a drink, toast to the future of New Orleans. That is his opening. The curtain will still be pulled."_

_With that, Caroline re-wrapped the dagger and gave it to Thierry. He took it and put it in his jacket pocket, pecked her on the cheek and took off. Caroline looked after him and sighed. She hoped the brainless vamp could do this one thing and that she hadn't wasted her time pretending to like him._

"Don't you think it's about bloody time you told me this spectacular plan of yours?" Klaus hissed at her through his smile.

"Time…time…" Caroline muttered distractedly, looking at the watch-charm that hung from her bracelet, "It's 7:25."

Klaus' eyes narrowed quizzically. "So what?"

"So we have 35 minutes to loosen you into your own party…" Caroline said softly as she brushed her lips to his.

Klaus tries to pull away but her grip is firm. So are her breasts. And so is his suddenly bold erection.

She pulls him into the curtains and pushes him against a pillar. "If you're gonna look all serious all night, I need to keep you away from the guests. This way, you aren't MIA and this is as good an excuse as any."

Just then, using his vamp speed, he reverses their positions and somehow ties her to the pillar using the grapevines. Caroline pulls but she really can't get loose. Seeing her distress, Klaus smiles and she sees his eyes flash amber for a second. He pushes her right against the pillar, using his body to trap her. Breathing in her heavenly scent, he cups her cheek with his hand. As he runs his hand up his thigh under her dress, the hand on her face drops to her neck, where it circles her neck. She gasps when he brushes her _there._

He runs his finger lightly up and down her entrance, lingering on her clit. He rubs the bundle of nerves, sending frissons of heat emanating though Caroline from that spot. As her breathing becomes laboured, he realises she is now wet and ready for him. With no warning, he reaches under the wrapped cloth he is wearing, guides himself to her entrance and plunges all of himself inside. He uses the hand that was just pleasuring her to cover her mouth, her cry would have brought unwanted attention to them.

He sets a bruising pace, crushing her against the pillar, not allowing her to move. But this is not for her, this is for him. After weeks of her mystery, her mind games and her annoying lack of emotion, this was his revenge. This was him showing her who was boss. For too long, she had thought herself untouchable because of his feelings for her.

It felt like all the frustration about Caroline, about Marcel, about Hayley, the baby, about New Orleans was coming to the surface at this one moment. All he could do was hold Caroline wand ride it out. Her wet heat was all that stood between him and wrathful oblivion. His thrusts grew in force to the point that the pillar began to shake. He was gripping Caroline so hard that had she been human she would have broken.

He could feel himself approaching release, although he held it off as long as he could. When she exploded around him, he gave himself over to ecstasy, biting savagely into her neck to stifle his moan of pleasure. He drank deep. Her blood was sweet and seductive. He didn't want to stop. He only did when he felt her body sag against his.

He had stopped just before he drained her. He stepped away and she slumped to the ground. Klaus did feel a bit guilty that he had taken it so far. He bit his wrist and pushed it to her lips. She would be okay in a while. Then he remembered his meeting. He got up, straightened his costume and put back on his mask. Time to see Marcel.

When Caroline woke up on the ground tied to a pillar, she knew she would normally have been pissed but turning off her humanity plus Klaus' blood invigorating her plus post-coital bliss had her ridiculously zen.

Needless to say, that feeling vanished soon enough. She went to the platform just in time to see Klaus have the dagger thrust through his back into his heart and the vampire wielding this dagger burst into flames.

Thierry screamed like a little girl as the fire engulfed him.

Caroline wasn't even that surprised. He was too hungry for attention and adulation. Of course he would want to kill Klaus himself for Marcel. She watched as the guests collectively cast their eyes to the platform. The curtain was drawn but they could still hear Thierry's dying cries as well as see the light of the inferno through it.

Caroline undaggered Klaus and pulled back the curtain. _All _of her plan hadn't gone down the drain. The room buzzed as everyone saw Klaus and the burning corpse lying motionless on the ground.

Caroline cast her gaze upon them herself and saw that Klaus was already beginning to stir. She lowered herself to sit down beside him just as Elijah came running up to the platform, a panic in his eyes.

"Hayley is gone!" He said in an alarmed tone she had never heard him use before, "I've searched this entire house and the grounds. She is nowhere to be found!"

As Caroline struggled to assimilate this new information, she felt something touch her hand. It was Klaus. She held his hand and saw his lips move. She put her ear near to his face to hear him.

"turn…on…" He mutters weakly.

Caroline looks at Elijah confusedly, "I think he wants the lights turned on…"

When she looks back to Klaus, his eyes are open and his pupils are dilating.

"turn..your…humanity…back…on…Caroline…"


End file.
